Rotary wheel-type ditching machine



Feb. 16, 1954 Filed Aug. 30, 1948 B. E. BUNNELL ROTARY WHEEL-TYPE DITCHING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS;

Feb. 16, 1954 I BUNNELL 2,669,039

ROTARY WHEEL-TYPE DITCHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 50, 1948 '4 Sheets-Sheet 2 n? i v? N .H 1 I F) b g Q Q N B.E.BanneZZ INVENTOR BY I 1 I I;

ATTORNEYS 1 1954 B. E. BUNNELL ,669,039

ROTARY WHEEL-TYPE DITCHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 30, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 .3. ,ECBzcmZZ INVENTOR l f I I J I ATTORNEYS- Feb. 16, 1954 a. E. BUNNELL ROTARY WHEEL-TYPE DITCHING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 50, 1948 J2 Zfiumell ATTORNEY S.

Patented Feb. 16, 1954 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE ROTARY WHEEL-TYPE DITCHING MACHINE Benjamin E. Bunnell, New Madrid, Mo.

Application August 30, 1948, Serial No. 46,815

2 Claims. I

This invention relates to a ditching machine, and more particularly, has reference to a selfpowered machine of the character described particularly adapted for one-man operation.

An important object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the character described that is readily movable to a particular location at which a ditch is to be dug; that has novel means for cutting the dirt for the purpose of digging the ditch, and throwing most of the dirt to one side; that includes a shaper adapted to form or slope the ditch as it is dug; and that includes novel adjusting means whereby adjustment can be made readily for depth and width of the ditch to be dug.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a ditching machine construoted in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view.

Fig. 3 is a section'on line 3 -3 of Fig. 2 showing the digging and shaping portions of the apparatus.

Fig. dis a section on line a d of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective View of the blade of one of the propellers.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the apparas tue is mounted upon a wheel supported rectangular skeleton frame 6, having at its front end a transversely extending arch 'i. Mounted on suitable bearings intermediate the ends of the rame 5, and extending transverseiy of the frame,

is the horizontal shaft ii, and mounted for rocking movement on and about the axis of the shaft is the platform Q.

Mounted on the front end of the platform 3 is a prime mover id, supplying power both for locomotion of the apparatus, and also for rota tion of a series of propellers to he described. In this connection, the shaft 3 constitutes not only a pivot shaft for the platform 3, but also, is the drive shaft whereby rotation is transmitted through. the drive chains i i to the rear wheels of the frame 6 for the purpose oi giving motive power to the apparatus. 1

The front wheels l2 are mounted in a fork it which is carried by the frame 5 for rotation about a vertical axis to permit steering of the apparatus, through the medium of the suitable linkage it, having a hand wheel 93" located near the operator who rides in a seat 13a carried by the platform 9.

For the purpose of rocking the platform 9 about the axis of the shaft 8, suitable extensible means can be used for raising and lowering the front end thereof and preferably comprises hydraulic cylinders and pistons 54 connected re spectively to the arch *i and platform 9. The movements of the pistons relative to the cy'lin ders are controlled through the medium of a com ventional control valve It located adjacent the operators platform. Through the use of the hydraulic adjusting means i i, it will be noted that the rear end of the platform '9 can he a'd justably raised or lowered as desired, for digging ditches varying in depth and width, and also for positioning the ditch-forming portions of the apparatus entirely out of the way while the apparatus is being transported to and from different locations.

Fixed to the platform 9 adjacent the rear end thereof and projecting rearwardly therefrom are inverted U-shaped supporting members !5, that carry in spaced parallel relation to the frame to ditch shaping blade ['6 (Fig. 3). The ditch shaping blade it is a wide vertically mounted plate, which, as the apparatus moves along, is adapted to shape or slope the sides of ditch dug thereby. To this end, the shaper is deepest at its center point, as shown at H, and from this deep medial portion of the shaper, the lower shaper edges are inclined upwardly and divergingly, as shown at is, for the purpose of sloping the side walls of the ditch.

The shaper is spaced a suflicient distance from the rear end of the platform 9 to permit the mounting between the shaper l8 and the rear end of the platform 9 of a series of rotary diggers. To rotate these rotary diggers, the motor I 0, equipped with a suitable power take-off, can be used. Drive shaft l9, extending from said power take-off, is extended rearwardly of the platform 9, and its free end carries the three-bladed digger 28. This digger is mounted to rotate about the longitudinal axis of the machine and the blades thereof sweep in an arcuate path in advance of the shaping blade it which coincides with the curvature I! of the bottom thereof.

The construction of this propeller is worthy of note, there being secured to the leading edge of each digger blade an elongated knife 21 that extends substantially the length of the blade. Knife 2! is pitched away from the blade proper, this being accomplished in the present instance by interposing a wedging block 22 between the knife blade and the digger blade proper.

By pitching the knife in this manner, a wider cut is made by the knife during the rotation of the digger. In this connection, as the knives of the digger cut, means are also carried by the diggers for scooping the loosened soil, and throwing it to the sides of the ditch being dug.

For this purpose, I provide on each digger blade, and on the side thereof opposite the knife 2 I, a scoop 23, which may conveniently be formed I from a length of metal material bent so as to be U-shaped in cross section, and open at its ends. As the knives cut the soil, the scoops 23 dig the soil and since the digger is rotating at high speed, the soil scooped up is thrown to the side of the ditch by centrifugal force through the open ends of the scoops.

Thus, it may be readily observed that with the digger 20, and the other diggers to be described, cutting the dirt, scooping it and discharging it to the sides of the ditch, and with the shaper it following the propellers, the ditch may be both dug and shaped as the apparatus is moved along at a slow speed.

The main drive shaft I9, in the present instance, carries the gear 24, in mesh with the gear 25 that is adapted to rotate the stub shaft 26. The stub shaft 26, in turn, powers the chain 27, thus rotating the side digger shaft 23, carrying the rotary digger 29. The digger 29 is smaller than the digger 2%), but otherwise is formed in the same manner, and as may be noted by refer" ence to the drawings, digger 23 is positioned in advance of the middle or main digger iii.

Through the medium of chain 30, power is also transmitted from the drive shaft is to a side digger shaft 3|, carrying the rotary digger 32,

that is of the same size as the digger 29.

In operation, it may be noted that in the present instance, as the main rotary digger 20 rotates clockwise (considering Fig. 3), one of the small diggers will also rotate clockwise, and the other will rotate counterclockwise. In this way, the loosened soil will be thrown to both sides of the ditch, as the apparatus moves along.

The operation of the apparatus may now be readily noted. As will be seen, the entire apparatus is under the control of a single person, who is adapted to steer the machine, drive along the line defining the ditch to be dug, adjust the digging and shaping portions of the apparatus for height and Width of the ditch, and who additionally, is enabled to control the mechanism powering said digging unit.

It will be understood that when the apparatus is being brought to be located at which the ditch is to be dug, it will be self-powered, and need not be transported on any other vehicle. As it moves between locations Where ditches are to be dug, the front end of the platform 9 will be adjusted downward, so that the rear digging or shaping mechanisms can be elevated to an inoperative position. The shaper can of course be detached from the rest of the apparatus in any such instance if desired if necessary to provide road clearance.

As the operator begins the digging of the ditch, he feeds the scraper and propeller mechanism. downwardly, by control of the adjusting means i4, until downward adjustment has been made to a sufficient extent to result in the digging of a,

ditch of desired depth and width. With a shaper as illustrated mounted in association with the propeller blades, there will be a predetermined relationship of depth adjustment to width adjustment. In other words, adjustment of the digging mechanism downwardly to a slight extent will result in a narrower ditch being dug, by reason of the upwardly diverging edges of the shaper. The greater the depth adjustment, the greater will be the width of the ditch, on account of this shaper formation. Further adjustment is unnecessary, and ordinarily, the adjustment made would be retained throughout the subsequent ditch digging operation. As the apparatus is moved along, the blades 29 and 32 will first engage the soil, and will dig more or less shallow trenches, throwing the dirt to one side. Immediately behind the diggers 29 and 32, the digger 20 will complete the digging of the soil, while at the same time accomplishing removal of substantially all the soil from the ditch.

The shaper It, following the propeller 20, shapes the ditch accurately to provide the desired slope of the ditch side Walls, and also serves to force before it any loose dirt not previously removed by the diggers. In this connection, it may be noted that dirt forced forwardly by the shaper will be thrown back into a location Where it can again be acted upon by the large digger 29, so that said dirt can be scooped up and thrown to the sides of the ditch.

What is claimed is:

1. In a ditching machine an elongated substantially rectangular frame, traction wheels mounted on the frame adjacent one end thereof,

a drive shaft mounted on the frame intermediate the ends thereof to rotate about a transversely extending horizontal axis, drive means carried by the drive shaft and connected to the traction 15 wheels for rotating the traction wheels as the drive shaft rotates, an elongated platform carried intermediate its ends by the drive shaft for rocking movement about the axis of said shaft, a prime mover connected to the drive shaft for rotating said platform, an arch car ried by and extending upwardly from the frame, cylinders having pistons Working therein, the cylinders and pistons being connected respectively to the arch and to the platform and a manually controlled valve for introducing hydraulic fluid into and exhausting such fluid from the cylinders for tilting the platform about the axis of the drive shaft, rotary diggers carried by the platform beyond the end of the frame adjacent the traction wheels, and means connected to the diggers and to the prime mover for establishing driving connection between the prime mover and the diggers.

2. In a ditching machine an elongated substantially rectangular frame, traction wheels mounted on the frame adjacent one end thereof, a drive shaft mounted on the frame intermediate the ends thereof to rotate about a transversely extending horizontal axis, drive means carried by the drive shaft and connected to th traction wheels for rotating the traction wheels as the drive shaft rotates, an elongated platform carried intermediate its ends by the drive shaft for rocking movement about the axis of said shaft, a prime mover mounted on the platform and connected to the drive shaft for rotating it, an arch carried by and ext-ending from the frame adjacent to the ends thereof remote from the traction wheels, cylinders carried by the arch and extending downwardly therefrom, pistons working with the cylinders and connected to the platform adjacent the end thereof remote from the traction wheels, and a manually controlled valve carried by the platform and connected to the cylinders for introducing hydraulic fluid into and exhausting such fluid from said cylinders for tilting the platform about the axis of the drive shaft, rotary diggers carried by the platform beyond the end of the frame adjacent to the traction wheels, and means connected to the diggers and to the prime mover for establishing driving connection between the prime mover and the diggers.

. BENJAMIN E. BUNNELL.

Name Date Henderson May 10, 1904 Number Number Number Name Date Carlson Oct. 10, 1911 Reynolds Feb. 13, 1912 Hartsough Apr. 4, 1922 Edwards Mar. 10, 1925 Curtis Apr. 5, 1927 Smith et a1 Mar. 8, 1932 Hansen Sept. 21, 1937 Ploetz Apr. 11, 1939 Tunsen et al Oct. 15, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Italy June 11, 1945 

